The Early Axes are the first dual-wielded weapon in Valheim, and they sit completely outside the normal metal progression. You do not need copper, tin, or a forge. You need two rare axe heads that spawn in Meadows ruins, four wood, and a basic workbench. The name is a pun on Early Access, and the axes carry an unusual perk for a starter weapon: they chop the same trees the Bronze axe does.
Quick answer: Loot one Curious axe head from a chest in the tall Meadows ruin (Abandoned House variant 6) and one Mysterious axe head from a chest in the low, flat Meadows cabin (Abandoned House variant 2), then craft the Early axes at any workbench with 4 wood.
Where the Curious axe head and Mysterious axe head spawn
Both components come from Abandoned House structures in the Meadows, but not from the same one. Each head is tied to a single building variant, so learning to recognize the two silhouettes from a distance saves a lot of walking.
| Axe head | Structure | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Curious axe head | Abandoned House variant 6 | Tall wooden tower ruin. Climb to the top and open the chest up there. |
| Mysterious axe head | Abandoned House variant 2 | Low, flat wooden cabin. The chest sits inside on the ground floor. |
Neither head is guaranteed. The right building has to generate, that building has to generate a chest, and the chest has to roll the head. The Curious axe head tends to show up first for most players; the Mysterious axe head is the one that stalls runs. If your starting island is fully explored without a hit, the answer is a raft or karve and a neighboring island, not a better search pattern.
Both heads weigh 2 each, stack to 10, and pass through a wood portal, so you can send them home the moment you find them rather than hauling them across the map.
How to craft the Early Axes at a workbench
You will know it worked when the Early axes appear in your inventory as a single item that fills both hands. There is no shield slot while they are equipped — blocking is handled by the axes themselves.
Early Axes stats, moveset, and chop level
At quality 1 the axes deal 30 slash and 35 chop, which is well above anything else the Meadows offers. The primary attack is a four-step combo — two single swings, then two double swings — for six hits total, with the final double landing at 2x damage per axe. It runs 3.62 seconds start to finish and costs 6 stamina per press.
The secondary attack is a forward leap into a two-axe slash. It costs 16 stamina, deals 1.5x damage as a single hit, and has no multitarget penalty, which makes it the better opener against a group. Backstabs land at 3x.
| Property | Quality 1 value |
|---|---|
| Wielding | Dual wielded |
| Weight / durability | 2.0 / 175 |
| Slash / chop | 30 / 35 |
| Secondary slash / chop | 45 / 52.5 |
| Stamina (primary / secondary) | 6 / 16 |
| Block armor | 4 at 0 skill, 6 at 100 skill |
| Parry block armor | 8 at 0 skill, 12 at 100 skill |
| Block force / parry bonus | 20 / 2x |
| Knockback / backstab | 20 / 3x |
| Movement speed | -5% |
The chop value is the real reason to chase them. The Early axes cut the same trees a Bronze axe can, including birch, oak, and ancient trees, so finewood and corewood open up before you have touched a smelter. They also feed the Axes skill, and they repair at a plain workbench rather than a forge.
Upgrading the Early Axes to quality 4
Upgrades never ask for another axe head. Everything past quality 1 is wood and leather scraps, gated only by your workbench level. Fully upgrading costs 28 wood and 12 leather scraps on top of the two heads.
| Quality (workbench level) | Materials to reach it | Slash / durability |
|---|---|---|
| 1 (level 1) | 1 Curious axe head, 1 Mysterious axe head, 4 wood | 30 / 175 |
| 2 (level 2) | 6 wood, 2 leather scraps | 35 / 225 |
| 3 (level 3) | 8 wood, 4 leather scraps | 40 / 275 |
| 4 (level 4) | 10 wood, 6 leather scraps | 45 / 325 |
Block force also climbs with each level, from 20 at quality 1 to 35 at quality 4, while the parry multiplier stays at 2x throughout.
Why the axe heads never show up in some worlds
Three separate rolls stand between you and each head, and any one of them can fail. The correct Abandoned House variant has to generate near you, that structure has to place a chest, and the chest has to contain the head. Clearing every ruin in a large Meadows and finding nothing is a normal outcome, not a bug.
Note: because the heads are teleportable and the recipe needs only a workbench, an existing character can carry a spare pair into a fresh world. That is the most reliable way to start a new run with them rather than gambling on generation.
Treated as a lucky find rather than a checklist item, the Early axes are one of the better things that can happen to a Meadows start. They let you skip straight past the flint axe’s tree restrictions, they hit harder than anything else available before bronze, and they cost almost nothing to keep repaired. Just do not stall a playthrough waiting for the second head to drop.
